Returning to the workplace – what does it mean for businesses and their employees?

Tracey is an experienced FE professional who has been in the post 16 education for over twenty years. She has built a broad range of experience leading on Business growth, Strategic partnerships, Apprenticeships, Adult education, Careers and Work Experience, and, more recently, meeting skills needs and Ofsted skills nominee. Tracey is passionate about transforming lives through learning. A drive for supporting individuals in technical and vocational education and skills. She is currently Chief Commercial Officer at Trafford and Stockport College Group in Greater Manchester; Tracey has a particular interest in ensuring employers are at the heart of the curriculum and Colleges’ role in the community.

Sarah is the HR Business Partner for the Alliance Manchester Business School, at the University of Manchester.

With significant experience of the Higher Education sector as well as the commercial aspects of the institution, she’s committed to delivering against the strategic aims and business objectives of the organisation.

An ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) qualified Coach and Mentor, Sarah is focused on developing a culture of support and personal development. As a Chartered Member of the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), she has been an active member of the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire CIPD Branch since 2006, supporting the professional body to champion better work and working lives.

Nikki holds the position of Chief of Staff at the Manchester site, one of the company’s six strategic locations. With 30 different functions and comprising 2000 employees, Nikki provides direct support to the Site Executive. Her role encompasses leading the Management Office team, implementing site strategy, managing relationships with charitable organisations, government entities, and industry partners, supervising diverse projects, enhancing the firm’s reputation to attract new talent, and advancing the infrastructure and real estate development plans.

Nikki embarked on her career with BNY Mellon in January 2011 as a Human Resources recruiter and has progressively advanced through multiple positions with greater responsibility. She has served as the EMEA HR Service Delivery Manager, leading a significant operational team, and worked as Principal in Third Party Governance, where her responsibilities included overseeing operations teams in dealings with inter-affiliates and external vendors while ensuring regional regulatory compliance.

Known for her expertise in people management, strategic planning, and operational oversight, Nikki is an advocate for equality, diversity, and inclusion. She champions these values as the executive sponsor of ‘HEART’, the internal employee resource group dedicated to raising awareness for disabilities and fostering a working environment where all colleagues feel valued and included. In 2023, she received a ‘Community & Inclusion’ award for her efforts in promoting Manchester’s cultural advancement and establishing the first global ‘Unwind Room’ catering to neurodiverse staff.

Among Nikki’s significant contributions was her pivotal involvement in the Global MYHR project in 2017. She played an instrumental part in the deployment of a case management system which modernised and automated HR procedures throughout the EMEA region, significantly improving efficiency, accuracy, and regulatory adherence of HR endeavours while also refining the overall employee experience. She deftly handled project leadership, stakeholder communication, change management, and training for this extensive initiative

Rachel leads on the CIPD’s public policy work for employment relations and health and wellbeing, and is a policy and research professional with over 25 years’ experience in the employment and HR arena. She has led a range of policy and research studies about employment relations and health and wellbeing at work, including the CIPD’s annual Health and wellbeing at work survey report and represents the CIPD on key Government and external advisory groups.  Rachel is a qualified HR practitioner and researcher with an MSc in Human Resource Management; her prior roles include working as a senior policy adviser at Acas.

Emma leads TfGM’s partnership and engagement approach, codesign, consultation and inclusion. She leads a team that designs and embeds approaches and intelligence to ensure TfGM understands, listens to, and works with Greater Manchester residents and business to help embed sustainable travel options. With sustainability, staff well-being and work-life balance a high priority for many employers as they consider future ways of working, Emma will lead and coordinate employer support alongside public and private sector leaders across Greater Manchester.

Having worked for six years in the Greater Manchester transport sector, Emma has overseen high-profile activity to support decisions around key transport policies for the city-region, including consultation which underpinned the recent decision to bring Greater Manchester’s buses back under local control, a key tenant of the Mayor’s clear commitment to develop the Bee Network – Greater Manchester’s and the Mayor’s ambitions for an integrated transport system.